1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally in the field of electronic circuits and systems. More specifically, the present invention is in the field of power amplification circuitry.
2. Background Art
Power amplifiers play a critical role in driving an electrical load. Electronic systems frequently process a low voltage signal and amplify the signal to drive a higher powered load. For example, many music players process audio data at a low power level and amplify the audio data to a higher power level to drive a higher powered speaker or set of earphones. An efficient and cost effective power amplifier is therefore key to drive higher power loads.
Unfortunately many power amplifier configurations are either inefficient or difficult to package. For example, a linear power amplifier typically utilizes a quiescent biasing current that consumes power even while the amplifier is idle, thereby degrading the power efficiency of the electronic system in which such a linear power amplifier is implemented. Alternatively, a half-bridge configuration switched-mode amplifier, for example, while capable of high efficiency, typically presents a direct-current (DC) bias at its output pins that must be eliminated with mitigating circuitry. That mitigating circuitry may take the form of one or more large blocking capacitors, for example, which occupy printed circuit board (PCB) area and may substantially increase system cost.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing an improved switched-mode power amplifier configured to eliminate the requirement for DC output blocking circuitry.